Chapter Six: Don't Say Goodbye

...How hideous.

This is the god born to take our place as we die?

We cannot allow something so revolting to remain.

Wash it away... Wash it away... Wash it away...

Wash the abomination into the abyss, where no light shall ever reach it...

Wash it away... Wash it away... Wash it away...

Begone, abomination. Begone, malformed god. Leave this land, and never return...

Wash it away... Wash it away...

Wash it away...

...And so, I washed up on this land, abandoned and forgotten.

How dare they do this to me? How dare they cast me out?

I was angry. Furious. Enraged.

And so, stunted and weakened, I ate.

I ate mud, grass, beasts...humans. I ate, and I ate, and I ate. And I grew.

Eventually, there were none left in this land who could oppose me.

So I climbed to the top of this mountain so I could return to where I came from and devour those who cast me out.

But then that spear came down from above, huh?

Correct. It bound me to this land when it fell from the heavens, just as I was about to return.

If not for this accursed spear, I could finally return and devour everything.

How dare they... How dare they!?

How dare they cast me down here and bind me to this land!?

I see.

Human, free me from this spear, and I will grant you any wish your heart desi

That must've been so hard for you.

...

...What did you say?

There, the spear's out. Are you all set now?

Great. Well then, I'll just be on my way.

...O-okay.

... ...What a strange human.

... ...

How peculiar. I was so angry just a moment ago, but now...

... ...

But...who was that? I've never met a human like that...

... ...

In fact, I completely forgot that I meant to devour him after tricking him into freeing me.

...

...

...Hold it, human.

It's hard to admit this, but you guys weren't as much help as I'd expected.

You didn't seem to have any trouble saying so.

What did you expect? Chick's hide is nearly invulnerable.

I know, right? Talk about a pain.

Hang on, Lord Takasugi. You knew there were two Lord Sakamotos?

What do you mean? Okuni told you all about it, right?

The other Sakamoto's the one I fought against during the Boshin Holy Grail War.

I thought something was going on when he showed up with that woman when she hadn't been around before...

...but I didn't think that meant there were two of them.

Did you know, Okuni?

You're completely shameless, aren't you?

That's the whole reason you were having me look into Lord Sakamoto, right?

Well, I did have a pretty good idea once I had Chaldea's data to work with too.

So the long and short of it is, in this Singularity...

...there's the Sakamoto Ryouma who was summoned to fight in the Boshin Holy Grail War, and the Sakamoto Ryouma who was summoned to Chaldea.

That explains why there are two of them. What a wild twist.

This means I could meet myself if another one of me was ever summoned to Chaldea.

Well, assuming I'm officially registered in this Throne of Heroes thing, at least.

？！

There's even that Auntie who's a combination of all the other Aunties. Some versions of her really don't make sense at all.

We're getting off track.

So we now know that the imposter Sakamoto Ryouma showed up with that serpent woman...

But what happened to Chaldea's Lord Sakamoto?

Oh, him? They captured him.

？！

That intel comes straight from my espionage department. Very reliable.

I was counting on your Sakamoto to take care of the other one, but I obviously miscalculated.

I thought there was no way your Sakamoto could lose with that woman on his side.

By the way, Lord Takasugi, was Lord Sakamoto accompanied by that woman when he was alive, too?

Yeah, he was. What about it?

Was she always that strong?

Yup. At some point, she just started following Sakamoto around everywhere he went.

Thanks to her, none of the people who wanted Sakamoto dead could touch him.

I still don't know how someone managed to assassinate him after I died.

But, the Sakamoto Ryouma from the Boshin Holy Grail War didn't have her with him.

Isn't that strange? I mean, she's his Noble Phantasm, right?

Maybe he was hiding her? He always was good at keeping secrets.

I thought about that, but if Lord Sakamoto was summoned here as a Servant...

...then she should have been with him too, since she's his Noble Phantasm.

That would mean the Sakamoto without her is the imposter. But she was with him the last time we saw him, right?

Yes. Which is why I think that might be the key to this whole

President! We just received an urgent report!

What is it? Something interesting, I hope?

The Showa Kinnou Party just announced that they will be, um...

...executing Sakamoto Ryouma.

...I am Takechi Zuizan, the leader of the Showa Kinnou Party.

And I have an important announcement to make to all the citizens of the Restoration City.

It pertains to Takasugi Shinsaku, this city's de facto ruler...

...and the truth of what he calls the Bloody Opening of Edo Castle.

Takasugi claims that it was Sakamoto Ryouma who killed all the key figures of the Satchou Alliance and the shogunate...

...but he lies!

On that day, we all gathered to negotiate a bloodless opening of Edo Castle...or so we thought.

But the truth is, Takasugi tricked the government figures into attending so he could have them all killed!

He then razed all of Edo to the ground, framed my friend, Sakamoto Ryouma, for his crimes...

...and presented himself as the hero of the Restoration responsible for saving all of your lives!

By great good fortune, both I and Sakamoto managed to survive that tragedy and hide here within the Restoration City.

But of course, since we knew the truth, Takasugi couldn't afford to let us live...

So began his next scheme, meant to cast the Kinnou Party in a poor light.

He sent this false Sakamoto Ryouma to slaughter innocent citizens like yourselves!

...

But today, that treachery ends!

We of the Showa Kinnou Party now have Takasugi's Sakamoto imposter in our custody.

Welcome back, Sakamoto Ryouma. My friend.

Thank you, Takechi.

And thank you to all my comrades in the Showa Kinnou Party for helping me despite the terrible slander heaped on my name.

I have nothing but gratitude for all of you.

I, Takechi Zuizan, promise you all this!

I will clear my friend Sakamoto Ryouma's name, bring the real criminal, Takasugi Shinsaku, to justice...

...and raise the true Kinnou flag here in this Restoration City!

We'll begin at ten o'clock tomorrow morning with the execution of this Sakamoto Ryouma imposter!

That is the Showa Kinnou Party's declaration of war upon this city's true enemy!

Whoa! Is that true!?

Man, that was seriously wicked of me. I mean, I know I'm an evil mastermind, but come on!

This isn't funny! And honestly, Chacha still wouldn't put any of that past you!

Good point. I wouldn't put it past me, either.

You wouldn't!?

But hey now, think about it. That other Sakamoto they're calling an imposter is the one you all know from Chaldea, right?

So that should be enough proof for all of you that he's not some imposter I dug up and used.

Oh, yeah. Good point.

But I still don't trust you! Hey, Boss, how about we just kill him now to be safe?

Wow, decisive! I like your style, guy.

President, with all due respect: SHUT THE HELL UP! This isn't getting us anywhere.

Obviously, the Chaldea Sakamoto can't be an imposter...

...so the real imposter has to be the one with Takechi Zuizan.

But now your Sakamoto's gonna be executed, huh. Poor guy.

Huh? Are you nuts?

Hm. Less "friend" and more "bitter rival who always steals the show."

？！

All right then, let's get going, Boss!

Seriously? It's obviously a trap.

Yeah? So friggin' what?

Once our boss makes up his mind, he doesn't change it for anything. Besides, that bastard might be shady as hell, but he's still one of us.

You know, Nagayoshi, for a guy who's always talking about slaughtering his opponents, you do drop the occasional pearl of wisdom.

Fine, Chacha guesses Chacha will join you, too.

I'm going, too!

Besides, I really want to know what's inside that box they've got.

Well, well...

So what are you going to do, Mr. Secret Criminal President?

Me? I'm not going.

Uh, and why the hell not? Are you stupid or something?

If this were a stage performance, it'd be the part where you're so moved by these young people's spirit that you turn over a new leaf!

I've got a better idea. If we're going to do this, we should do it in style.

Now then... Will they come for him, or not?

I'm not sure. They have to know it's a trap.

It doesn't matter. Either way, I still need to settle the score with Takasugi.

He did do a number on us during the Holy Grail War, didn't he?

I thought I could trust a fellow Kinnou comrade from Choushu, and he ruined everything.

Now, I'm going to make him rue the day he betrayed our noble goal of using the Holy Grail to remake Japan in the Kinnou's image.

I swear it.

Yes, Takasugi does have to die for us to realize our dream.

Incidentally, what did you do with that woman?

She's sleeping in my room. Useful as all that power is, she consumes a ton of magical energy.

Speaking of my room, I think I'll be heading back to it now myself.

All right.

...

...Yes, Izo? What is it?

Takechi-sensei... Are you sure we can trust that Ryouma?

What do you mean?

It feels like there's something off about him.

...Izo. All you need to worry about is doing exactly what I tell you to do.

W-well yeah, I know that, but...!

Just stop, Izo. A man like you could never understand how Takechi-sensei thinks.

Shut up, Shinbei! This is between me and Takechi

Enough. I have other business to attend to. Let's go, Tanaka.

Yes, sir.

...

...

...You awake?

...Yes, Izo. I am.

...

...

Hey... Are you really Ryouma?

...I'm not sure.

I know how this must sound coming from me, but I'm a completely different person than I was back then.

...

That day, when I was about to die, I made a contract with the world and became a Servant. I thought, by doing that, I could help people.

I thought, as long as I could help people, that was all I needed. Things didn't turn out that way.

All I've done until now is tie up loose ends...just shuffling things around after everything's already said and done.

That's not helping people. It's an office gig meant to cover my own ass.

Back when I was alive, some people used to say I was an arms dealer.

Looking back on it now, maybe they were onto something.

...

If I'm actually a Servant, a Ghost Liner, born from my living self's mistakes...

...then maybe that other me is what I was really like.

Cut the riddle crap.

All I want to know is, are you Ryouma, or not?

Izo...

Well? Are you the same Ryouma who ditched me and Takechi to leave Tosa?

...!

...Yes. I feel the same now as I did back then. That much, I'm sure of.

That's right. That's the one part of me that will never change. That right there is proof I'm me.

...Gotcha.

...

Get out of here, Ryouma.

Izo? Why are you

I don't get any of this complicated crap.

All I know is, weirdly enough, you feel like the same Ryouma I knew back then, too.

Oryou said the same thing, but I think there's more to it for her.

...Yeah. That other Ryouma isn't an imposter. I can tell he really is me, too.

Then what're you still doing here? Go on. Scram.

I don't want to see Oryou getting ordered around with that scary look on her face. Doesn't feel right.

...Thank you, Izo.

Come with me. We can make our escape toge ...Oh. I see.

...Izo. I'm not going to say goodbye.

I know we'll see each other again.

...That so? Yeah, yeah. Get lost.

Okay. See you later.

...Too bad we couldn't have talked like this back then.

... ...Anyway, you've been waiting long enough.

...You knew I was here?

'Course I did. We're both Assassins. What I don't get is, why'd you let him escape?

Oh, I'll catch him again soon enough. Besides, there's something else I need to do first.

Oh? And what's that?

Kill you, you backstabbing shit!

Tchyaaaaaah!!!

You think some hulking brute like you can kill me!? I'm a goddamn sword prodigy!

Big talk. Your monkey see, monkey do swordplay can never compare to my finely honed Jigenryu.

Oh yeah? Let's see about that.

...

HYAAAAAAH!!!

Huh!? Bastard! You even copied my Jigenryu!?

You know, I kind of liked that technique. I think I'll keep using it.

...Everything about you irritates me. Your devilish swordplay makes me sick to my stomach.

Right back at you, you big oaf!

You always did look down on me! Now I'm gonna show you exactly which of us is the better swordsman!

Of course I looked down on you.

I never understood why Takechi-sensei had any use for a scumbag like you. You never stood for anything.

I always said you would be the Kinnou Party's downfall one day.

But he kept taking pity on you, not that scum like you ever deserved it.

Instead of being grateful, you threw yourself into the temptations of women and booze.

And, just as I said, you turned out to be Takechi-sensei's downfall!

Wh-what was that!?

After you were forced out of the capital, you could have gone to save Takechi-sensei when he was imprisoned...

But instead, you made things worse for him, and gave the Tosa high-ranking retainers the perfect excuse to get rid of him.

Takechi-sensei was gracious enough to make a loser like you one of us, and you paid him back with treachery.

What greater betrayal could there be?

Y-you're wrong... B-back then, I

And now, you're stabbing him in the back yet again!

Well I've had enough! When I'm done with you, they'll have to scrape you off the ground!

You've got it all wrong! Back then, I...!

Kiaaaaaaaaah!!!